There are many conflicting design constraints when designing magnetic workpiece manipulation devices (generally referred to herein as magnetic holding systems) such as clamps, holding system, lifters, handles and chucks. The job to be carried out and the end product along with safety concerns often dictate design constraints. Usually, it is the case that a particular design is quite application specific, so if a job changes somewhat, it is usually the case that a new design of the magnetic holding system is needed.
Consider, for example, a switchable magnetic lifter system that is designed to lift large sheets of steel that are one inch thick from a stack. It is generally desired to obtain maximum flux in the magnetic lifter system and if it is designed to lift 1 inch sheets of steel it may be permissible to allow the majority of the flux lines passing through the steel sheets to extend to a depth in the steel sheets of about one inch. However, if one wishes to repurpose this magnetic lift system to pick up steel sheets that are only 3/16 or ¼ inch thick, it is possible and likely that if the same magnetic lift system is used without modification two or more of the steel sheets will be lifted at once. Not only is this likely to be unsuitable for the intended purpose, but also is a potential safety hazard.